Washington, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health is pleased to announce a partnership with UC Davis to monitor for and increase the local capacity in "geographic hot spots" to identify the emergence of new infectious diseases in high-risk wildlife such as bats, rodents, and non-human primates that could pose a major threat to human health. UC Davis leads a coalition of leading experts in wildlife surveillance including Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Trust, The Smithsonian Institute, and Global Viral Forecasting, Inc.

Washington, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health is pleased to announce a partnership with DAI to strengthen the human capacity of countries to identify and respond to outbreaks of newly emergent diseases in a timely and sustainable manner. DAI leads a distinguished team including the University of Minnesota, Tufts University, Training Resources Group, Inc., and Ecology and Environment, Inc. This is a five-year cooperative agreement with a ceiling of $185 million.

Washington, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health is pleased to announce a partnership with International Medical Corps (IMC) to strengthen the human capacity of countries to identify and respond to outbreaks of newly emergent diseases in a timely and sustainable manner. IMC leads a distinguished team including Global Deterrence Alternatives (GDA), TriMed Inc., MedPrep Consulting, and World Learning. This is a three-year cooperative agreement with a ceiling of $6.65 million.

Washington, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the Academy for Educational Development (AED) a five-year, multimillion-dollar cooperative agreement called PREVENT to develop and implement effective behavior change and communications interventions that reduce the risk of emerging zoonotic diseases.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Through a unique public-private alliance, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) teamed up with the Major League Baseball-Dominican Development Alliance (MLB-DDA), and the San Diego Padres to donate $35,000 to the Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral (IDDI) for basic education activities in Najayo, Dominican Republic Oct. 27.

The announcement was made by the U.S. Embassy to Santo Domingo's ad interim Chargé d'Affaires. Christopher Lambert and the San Diego Padres Associate Counsel Jeremy Horowitz.

WASHINGTON, DC - Sixty finalists for the African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM), with proposals representing more than $22 million of diaspora business investment to spur job creation in their native countries, were announced today by Western Union and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The ADM is a business entrepreneur program that has catalyzed economic development plans from U.S.-based African diaspora to help 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, through collaboration between Western Union and USAID.

WASHINGTON, DC - Higher Education for Development (HED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that an additional 13 partnerships will be funded through the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative Planning Grant Competition.

ROCKVILLE, MD - With substandard and counterfeit versions of medicines intended to treat life-threatening diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis posing a growing threat throughout the developing world, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention will expand their joint efforts to combat this menace by launching a new program over the next five years.

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Grameen Foundation today announced a new collaboration that will make up to $162.5 million in local currency financing available to microfinance institutions (MFIs) throughout the developing world. The twelve-year program is the largest credit guarantee to date under USAID's Development Credit Authority and also marks the first time that a non-governmental organization has been approved to serve as facilitator.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), together with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), and the International Council of Nurses (ICN), has issued a consensus statement about the importance of family planning as a key component of post abortion care. The policy statement underscores the commitment of these organizations to ensuring their members advocate for high-quality post abortion family planning counseling and services.

Washington, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is launching an Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program that builds on the successes of the Agency's long-standing programs in disease surveillance, training, and outbreak response, particularly those addressing avian and pandemic influenza. The focus of the EPT program is to pre-empt or combat, at their source, newly emerging diseases of animal origin that could threaten human health.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Purdue University professor, whose research was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), received the 2009 World Food Prize Oct. 15 for his concerted effort in the development of drought and parasitic weed resistant varieties of sorghum which has increased the food supply to millions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Baghdad - Iraqi Deputy Minister of Industry Muhammed Abdullah and USAID/Iraq Mission Director Chris Crowley joined officials from the Government of Iraq (GoI) and representatives from Iraqi universities and the private sector at a conference Oct. 13 that focused on ways to enhance awareness of quality management concepts, services and products and to illustrate their role in Iraq's national development.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) airlifted a shipment of emergency supplies to Indonesia on October 10th from its stockpile in Dubai. In coordination with the Indonesian Red Cross, approximately 20,000 internally displaced personnel will benefit from 45 metric tons of emergency relief supplies including 34 pallets of plastic sheeting, 6,720 hygiene kits, 7,200 jerry cans and 6 generators.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A researcher for an international program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) won the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics for her work on how community institutions can prevent conflict.

Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the prize in its 40-year history, is a researcher for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP), managed by Virginia Tech.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) was named Employee Resource Group (ERG) of the year by Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. GILFAA is the first federal employee organization to receive an award from Out & Equal. Ajit Joshi, Program Director for United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance and Policy Director for GLIFAA, will accept the award on behalf of GLIFAA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a five-year grant, Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector, to Abt Associates Inc. Sub-recipients under the grant are Banyan Global, Jhpiego, Marie Stopes International, the Monitor Group, and O'Hanlon Health Consulting, LLC. The $95 million grant will build upon USAID's decades of support for and leadership in private health sector programming, and on the work of its predecessor projects, Private Sector Partnerships-One (PSP-One) and Banking on Health.

Washington D.C. - In order to respond more rapidly to global food emergencies, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the expansion of its worldwide food aid warehouse program last week. The Agency awarded a contract valued at up to $50 million to Agility Logistics, Inc. of Virginia.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced over $10.5 million in grants to seven organizations working in six countries in Africa to extend malaria prevention and control activities in communities most affected by the disease, particularly children under age 5 and pregnant women. The grants were provided through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), an interagency initiative led by USAID with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as key partners.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, along with representatives from USAID's Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, will participate in a Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at the Hubbard Place Community Center, located at 3500 14th Street NW, Washington DC, on Oct. 5, from 3 to 5 p.m.